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Morpho-functional analysis of the jaw apparatus of Vietnamese Passerine birds (Passeriformes): inferences on their trophic adaptations, ecology, and systematic position - Journal of Ornithology

  • ️Kalyakin, Mikhail V.
  • ️Fri Dec 18 2015

Abstract

The biology of many forest birds of Southeast Asia is still poorly known and requires extensive and intensive field study. Field data on trophic features of forest Passerine birds were collected in more than 15 forest areas in all main natural zones of the country during an ecological research program at the Russian-Vietnamese Tropical Research Centre in Vietnam in 1989–2013. The morpho-functional analysis of the jaw apparatus has been used to interpret field observations and to infer certain aspects of the feeding biology in the absence of direct observations. The analytical method comprises a detailed description of the morphology and a subsequent biomechanical analysis of the jaw apparatus as a basis for the reconstruction of the evolution of trophic adaptations in selected species and groups. A comparison of several congeneric species provided insights into the feeding adaptations in several genera of bulbuls and timaliid species and of several other Passerine families. Besides data on 16 picnonotid species and 11 timaliid species, data on selected representatives of Corvidae, Rhipiduridae, Oriolidae, Campephagidae, Dicruridae, Chloropseidae, Irenidae, Monarchidae, Aegithinidae, Dicaeidae, Nectarinidae, Sturnidae, Muscicapidae, and Zosteropidae were collected to identify their trophic adaptations. Our morpho-functional data show various degrees of specialization for different trophic strategies, such as insectivory, frugivory, nectarivory, predation, seed-eating, or eating of other plant matter. Several conclusions on the systematics of Old World Passerines based on these data are also presented.

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Acknowledgments

Finally I have to say many thanks to the symposium conveners, Dominique Homberger and Andrey Zinoviev, as well as to the organizers of 26th International Ornithological Congress. I would also like to acknowledge my teachers, Felix Dzerzhinsky and Leonid Korzoun, as well as all colleagues who assisted me in various ways during my field studies in Vietnam since 1989. My special thanks are also directed to Olga Voltzit for her assistance in the preparation of illustrations and to Vitaly Kalyakin for corrections to the draft of this text. I am also grateful to reviewers of this article and to the editors of these Proceedings. Early studies of my researches were supported by grants from the Russian Foundation for Fundamental Researches Nos. 09-04-01661-a and 12-04-01440-a, and a final part of work was supported by a grant from the Russian Scientific Foundation, No. 14-50-00029.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Zoological museum of Lomonosov Moscow State University, Bolshaya Nikitskaya, 2, Moscow, 125009, Russia

    Mikhail V. Kalyakin

  2. Joint Vietnamese-Russian Tropical Center, N 3, Street 3/2, 10 District, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

    Mikhail V. Kalyakin

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  1. Mikhail V. Kalyakin

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Correspondence to Mikhail V. Kalyakin.

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Communicated by E. Matthysen.

Author dedicates this article to the memory of the Professor Felix Dzherzhinsky

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Kalyakin, M.V. Morpho-functional analysis of the jaw apparatus of Vietnamese Passerine birds (Passeriformes): inferences on their trophic adaptations, ecology, and systematic position. J Ornithol 156 (Suppl 1), 307–315 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-015-1246-x

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  • Received: 12 November 2014

  • Revised: 19 May 2015

  • Accepted: 26 May 2015

  • Published: 18 December 2015

  • Issue Date: December 2015

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-015-1246-x

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